


my world is filled with cheer and you

by deandratb



Category: One Day at a Time (TV 2017)
Genre: F/M, Mistletoe
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-26
Updated: 2018-12-26
Packaged: 2019-09-27 19:33:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 863
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17168039
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/deandratb/pseuds/deandratb
Summary: The presents are open, the music is playing, but Penelope is still missing one Christmas tradition.





	my world is filled with cheer and you

**Author's Note:**

> A last-minute bit of Christmas fluff! general idea borrowed from [this list of Christmas AUs.](http://actuallylorelaigilmore.tumblr.com/tagged/christmas%20au)

“You know what I miss?” 

Penelope had a glass of her mother’s eggnog in one hand as she leaned against the sofa with the other. Schneider wouldn’t have classified her as tipsy, but she definitely seemed a bit more relaxed than usual for Christmas afternoon. 

Honestly, with Elena home for the break and Alex in his final year of high school, she had reasons to be less stressed than when he’d first met her.  _ But until the wrapping paper was cleaned up and the party was over, she was usually very...ex-Army, _ Schneider thought with a smile. 

He didn’t mind. Their family traditions made him feel at home every year, including how wound up she got during the holidays. Which made it even weirder to see Penelope beaming at him, full of post-unwrapping glow, rather than bustling around with her mom looking after all the guests.

The rising sound of Lydia’s music pulled Schneider back from his wandering thoughts. “What do you miss?”

“Your ugly holiday sweaters.”

He scoffed. “You do not miss those! You made fun of those for  **years,** Penelope. Every time I wore one. You gave each of them its own individual mean name. I stopped wearing them for good reason.”

“I wasn’t trying to be mean.” She shook her head and finished her drink before setting the glass aside. “They were ugly, Schneider, but isn’t that the point? They’re like, a hipster fashion thing. And the ugliness is right there in the name.”

“Yeah, well, you were really harsh about it.”

“Okay, okay, I’m sorry. But did it ever occur to you that I was making fun of them for a reason?”

He folded his arms as she stepped closer. “Yes. It did. And the reason was to be hurtful.” 

“That would make me a terrible friend,” she pointed out. “That was not the reason.”

“Then the reason was…what, exactly?”

Schneider stepped back automatically as Penelope approached his spot near the kitchen. Luckily, the archway behind him was empty, or he definitely would have bumped into somebody. 

“First, I found them kind of funny,” she admitted. “And also ugly. But mostly…”

Penelope moved again, further into his personal space, and Schneider took another step away--realizing too late that his back was about to hit the wall next to the kitchen.

“Mostly, I was just hoping to convince you to take them off.”

“Huh?”

“You heard me.” Penelope’s slow, inviting smile was one that Schneider was certain she shouldn’t be aiming at him. Especially not surrounded by her family. “You developed a weird love of cheesy Christmas sweaters, and I thought that if you were so determined to wear them every year, the least I could do was try to find a way to get you out of them.”

Schneider hesitated, trying to figure out if there was a way to ask how much eggnog she’d had without being super insulting. She pointed over his head while he was still gaping at her. 

“Look, somebody hung mistletoe in the kitchen again. Just like last year. What a cliche, right?”

He blinked up at the mistletoe, then back down at her, smiling when he let out the breath he’d been holding. “Totally. Still...rules are rules, don’t you think, Pen?”

Schneider lifted a hand to her cheek, letting his fingers drift along the curve of her jawline. She watched his blue eyes roam over her face before hers closed. 

Just underneath the noise of her family and their festive soundtrack, Penelope heard him add, “Especially at Christmas.”

Their lips brushed gently at first, until she shifted onto her tiptoes and kissed him back. Schneider was the one who pulled away, swallowing hard and running his fingertips down her bare arms like he forgot they weren’t the only ones in the room. 

Alex whooped out congratulations from his spot on the floor, reminding them that the family was about to get all up in their business. Schneider tried to cover his embarrassment by burying his face in Penelope’s hair. 

“I have a really ugly sweater this year,” he confessed in a whisper, his mouth against her ear. “I mean, monumentally bad.”

“Yeah?” 

“Yeah. It’s new. I’d be willing to wear it,” he told her, “if you ask nicely.”

She considered the idea. “Define monumentally bad.” 

“Elves, with the little shoes. And candy canes,” Schneider told her with a grin. “But if I wear it, I’m hoping you’ll do something for me.”

“I promise not to be a jerk about it this year.” 

Schneider shook his head. “Not that. Or at least, not only that.”

“Then what?”

“If I start wearing the sweaters again...at some point, it really is your turn to get me out of them.”

Penelope reached for his hands and tugged him down to her. “Deal.”

He kissed her forehead instead, taking her by surprise. “The mistletoe was a nice touch, Penelope. Very sneaky.”

She grinned up at him. “Hey, wasn’t me. Maybe one of Santa’s elves did it.”

“Right. An elf.”

Schneider hummed along to the song that filled the apartment and watched Lydia dance past them on her way to the couch. 

“Merry Christmas, Pen.”

**Author's Note:**

> Title borrowed from "This Christmas" by Gloria Estefan.


End file.
